Mixed-species foraging flock
Videos
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each ot
Black-headed gulls, bar-tailed godwits and sanderlings foraging on a beach
Mixed-species flock containing American herring gull, royal tern, laughing gull, and black skimmer foraging on a beach
Mixed-species flock containing Lapland longspur, horned lark, and snow bunting foraging in the snow
Mixed-species finch flock including long-tailed finch, masked finch, and Gouldian finch at Ferguson River in Australia
Kleptoparasitism
Videos
Kleptoparasitism is a form of feeding behavior in which one animal — i.e. the kleptoparasite — deliberately takes food from another animal, often via aggressive confrontations. The strategy is evoluti
Mixed-species foraging flock
…forced to change their foraging strategy in order to conform with the flock. Another third proposed cost of mixed-species flocks is an increased risk of kleptoparasitism. In the North Temperate Zone, they are typically led by Paridae (tits and chickadees), often joined by nuthatches, treecreepers, woodpeckers (such as…
Great frigatebirds (Fregata minor) chasing a red-footed booby (Sula sula) to steal its food
Cuckoo bee from the genus Nomada
Miltogrammine fly (Craticulina seriata) is a kleptoparasite of sand wasps, depositing its larvae on the food reserved for the larvae of the wasp
Velia caprai (Ardennes, Belgium)